CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) -- Northern Mindanao will open its doors to one of the biggest travel and tourism events in Mindanao as the Department of Tourism (DOT)-10 hosts the 2nd Mindanao Tourism Expo (MTEx) 2024, showcasing Mindanao's best attractions, from April 26 to 28, at the Limketkai Center Atrium in this city.
The expo will bring in the different regional offices of DOT in Mindanao, which include the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as they showcase the different travel and tourism sites in their respective regions as a way of promoting and showcasing the island of Mindanao as a safe tourism haven and a myriad of world-class tourism products capable of competing with the best tourism destinations globally.
“We want to lose the stigma of being afraid to come to Mindanao. That is why this program, the Mindanao Tourism Expo, was born because we need to promote Mindanao [tourism] as a whole,” said DOT Marketing and Promotion Division Head Juan Carlos Valentino N. Baclig.
He added that Tourism Sec. Maria Esperanza Christina Garcia Frasco is expected to grace the event. Aside from the secretary, various tourism stakeholders coming from different regions of the country are expected to join the three-day expo.
DOT-10 is optimistic that the MTEx 2024, which is taking place in the region, will enhance the tourist influx in the region in the upcoming months, enabling the department to meet its tourist arrival targets. Pre-pandemic 2018–2019 saw the region record around 3 million tourist arrivals, but the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, causing the number to drop to 650,000. However, by 2023, the number of tourist arrivals began to increase, with an estimated 2.5 million tourists visiting the region.
“Hopefully, by the third and fourth quarters of this year, we can see an increase in the number of tourist arrivals after the expo. Just like the first expo in Davao, our tourist arrival increased after the first MTEx, from 1.6 million in 2022 to 2.5 million in 2023,” Baclig said.
In addition to the attractions, there will be a placement for pasalubong items and a distribution of taste samples. Also, tour operators and hoteliers will be giving away discounted rates on packages and rooms.
“There are also raffle prizes at the end of each day during the travel expo, which are round-trip tickets up for grabs: 5 domestic and 1 international travel,” he said.
Aside from the display coming from Regions 9–13 and BARMM, DOT-10 shared that Regions 1–8 will also feature their respective tourist destinations, hotels, and pasalubong products.
The DOT-10 invites everyone to attend the 2nd Mindanao Tourism Expo and enjoy Mindanao's beauty. The department also urges the public to help promote Northern Mindanao and the Philippines, as well as to continue to support and patronize tourist establishments that are DOT-accredited. (JAKA/PIA-10)
